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And they insist the 257 fatalities as a result of racing incidents in the past 12 months is only a small fraction compared to other sports such as horse racing.

GBGB chief executive Mark Bird said: “The publication of today’s data demonstrates the levels of care and attention already being provided to the welfare of dogs in our sport and proves that the overwhelming majority of greyhounds are successfully homed when they retire.

“But there were 348 dogs this year for whom no home could be found and our mission is to reduce this number to zero.”

The governing body have announced plans to direct at least 75 per cent of the money it receives from the betting industry to animal welfare.

Improvements have been announced to reduce the number of needless deaths

And a new injury recovery scheme has been launched, which will help fund the medical costs involved in treating greyhounds injured in races.

Lord Gardiner, the minister for animal welfare, said: “I welcome the GBGB’s commitment to improving greyhound welfare and the publication of today’s data, a key recommendation of Defra’s review of the Greyhound Racing Regulations, is a welcome step to improving transparency in the sport.

“The figures show there is still room for improvement so it is right GBGB has set out plans to reduce injuries and deaths further and have a mission to cut the number of greyhounds put to sleep due to treatment costs or inability to find a new home to zero.”